Currency gains as RBA keeps quiet on currency strength

folarin okunola

September 6, 2016 5:43 PM

The dollar, euro and yen were all trading in tight ranges after a surge for the yen.

An employee counts Australian dollar banknotes at an exchange office in downtown Cairo, Egypt, April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Australia's dollar was the biggest gainer among major currencies as U.S. and European traders returned from summer holidays on Tuesday, jumping almost 1 percent after the country's central bank said little on its 10 percent rise since January.

The dollar, euro and yen were all trading in tight ranges after a surge for the yen on the back of comments by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda which acknowledged the problems created by running negative interest rates.

Data on Australian government spending and its current account deficit pointed to solid economic growth last quarter, and the Reserve Bank of Australia as expected kept interest rates on hold.

At Governor Glenn Stevens' last meeting, the bank made little reference to the concerns over the Aussie's strength that have spotted the last two years of policymaking.

"Domestic and global growth along with inflation was the headline (rather than the dollar)," said Tobias Davis, Head of Corporate Treasury Sales with Western Union in London.

"One perhaps could have expected some more discussion of the currency, but we probably need to get back above 0.80 for verbal invention to come back into flavour."

In morning trade in Europe, the Aussie traded as much as 0.9 percent higher at $0.7655.

The U.S. dollar was trading at 103.67 yen, having fallen from Friday's one-month high of 104.32.

With dealers and investors searching for the currency trade that will dominate the next month or two, upward pressure on the yen continues in the absence of much clarity on the chances of a rise in U.S. interest rates by the end of the year.

Though Kuroda signalled his readiness to expand an already massive stimulus programme in his speech on Monday, he did not provide any explicit hints on the chances of the BOJ aggressively easing policy at its next review on Sept. 20-21.

In addition, many analysts noted that Kuroda admitted for the first time that his stimulus drive has its costs, even though he disputed the view that the BOJ's stimulus is reaching its practical limit.

"For those who had been believing in a Kuroda who stresses only the benefits of easing, the speech would have been disappointing," said Makoto Noji, senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

"To be sure, he is unlikely to change his policy framework given that he was preaching the benefit of stimulus. Yet many market players might have felt that the costs are likely to outweigh the benefits in the future," he added.

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